Client/server applications are of increasing importance in industry; they are a significant first step towards a global distributed processing model. A very recent response to this trend is the Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) of the Open Software Foundation (OSF), the emerging new industry standard for distributed processing. The papers in this volume discuss the client/server approach based on DCE, illustrating and analyzing the functionality of important DCE components and applications. A number of contributions also focus on new models beyond traditional client/server processing and beyond DCE. The papers in this volume were presented at the International Workshop on the OSF Distributed Computing Environment, held in Karlsruhe, Germany, October 7-8, 1993. Following an introductory chapter, the contributions are grouped into parts on DCE analysis and comparison, application support, methods and tools, RPC extensions, and object-based systems.

Now that Microsoft's systems have been unleashed onto the Internet, they are more vulnerable to attack. This book describes how Microsoft has taken Distributed Computer Environment/Remote Procedure Calls and implemented it over Server Message Block. The author presents Microsoft Developer NT system calls and shows what they look like over the wire.

With threads programming, multiple tasks run concurrently within the same program. They can share a single CPU as processes do or take advantage of multiple CPUs when available. They provide a clean way to divide the tasks of a program while sharing data.

DCOM -- the Distributed Component Object Model -- is a recent upgrade of a time-honored and well-tested technology promoted by Microsoft for distributed object programming. Now that components are playing a larger and larger part in Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000, every Windows programmer will want to understand the technology. DCOM competes with CORBA as a rich and robust method for creating expandable and flexible components, allowing you to plug in new parts conveniently and upgrade without the need for code changes to every program that uses your component. This book introduces C++ programmers to DCOM and gives them the basic tools they need to write secure, maintainable programs. While using Visual C++ development tools and wizards where appropriate, the author never leaves the results up to magic. The C++ code used to create distributed components and the communications exchanged between systems and objects are described at a level where the reader understands their significance and can use the insights for such tasks as debugging and improving performance. The first few chapters explain both the remote procedure calls that underlie DCOM's communication and the way DCOM uses C++ classes. Readers become firmly grounded in the relation between components, classes, and objects, the ways objects are created and destroyed, how clients find servers, and the basics of security and threading. After giving you a grounding in how DCOM works, this book introduces you to the Microsoft tools that make it all easy. By showing what really happens each time you choose a button in a wizard, Learning DCOM makes it possible for you to choose what you need. This book is for anyone who wants to understand DCOM. While thoroughly practical in its goals, it doesn't stint on the background you need to make your programs safe, efficient, and easy to maintain. Topics include: MIDL (Microsoft Interface Definition Language, the language for defining COM interfaces) COM error and exception handling Custom, dispatch, and dual interfaces Standard and custom factories Management of in-process versus out-of-process servers Distributed memory management Pragmatic explanation of the DCOM wire protocol Standard, custom, handler, and automation marshaling Multithreading and apartments Security at the system configuration and programming level Active Template Library (ATL), ATL wizards -- and what they don't do Writing a component that can be invoked from Visual Basic Techniques for using distributed components Creating an ActiveX control and embedding it in a Web client Authentication and the use of Windows NT security features Techniques for merging marshaling code Connection and distributed events management An introduction to COM+ features

Umar provides a collection of powerful services to support the e-business andm-business initiatives of today and tomorrow. (Computer Books)